June 26, 2003
Black named principal lecturer
Albert W. Black, Jr., has been named the UW’s first principal lecturer, a title designed to recognize award-winning teaching. He also has been named the Wyckoff Faculty Fellow. The appointment has been approved by the UW Board of Regents.
Black has been at the UW 32 years; his primary affiliation has been with the Sociology Department. He received a Distinguished Teaching Award in 1977 and the Outstanding Public Service Award in 1999. He received the Charles E. Odegaard Award from the Friends of the Educational Opportunity Program in 1999. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, a master’s from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
“Al Black is the consummate teacher,” says Robert Crutchfield, chair of the Sociology Department. “He teaches in the lecture halls, seminar rooms, in his writing, in his office, in public speeches, in the public schools, and on local radio. He made a conscious decision as a young scholar to focus his energies on teaching and serving not only here at the university, but in the broader community. His colleagues report that it is impossible to go anywhere in the Seattle metropolitan area with Al without encountering his students, who greet him warmly and appreciatively.
“Of course, Al has made it a habit of trying to teach his colleagues as well, in particular about the importance of undergraduate education. Some of his messages weren’t always welcome, but many of the things he has argued for — the centrality of undergraduate education, broadening the diversity of our campus, rewarding innovative, creative teachers — are ideas that the campus has come to agree with.”
Funding for Black’s fellowship will come from the Thomas L. and Margot G. Wyckoff Endowed Faculty Fellowship, designed to enhance the university’s ability to attract, retain and provide opportunities for professional development for faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences
